


Of Grumpy Cats

by Lumelle



Series: Furs and Feathers [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Animal Traits, Animal Transformation, Cat Dwalin, Dwalin Being an Idiot, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 17:19:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6204061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwalin has been in his animal form for days, and for all that it's inconvenient for everyone, Ori for one is fed up. Thorin may not be able to help, but thankfully Nori may have more luck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Grumpy Cats

**Author's Note:**

> This one was written just to match a couple of tags. Of course, now I have a bunch of other ideas...
> 
> In this 'verse everyone has an animal they can shift to; they still retain the animal's ears and tail in their "usual" form.

"You have to put a stop to this!"

Thorin blinked, looking up from the documents he had been perusing. His tail swished lazily as he saw a familiar form in the doorway. "Ah, Ori. Come in."

Ori stomped in, no other word would have made his entrance justice, and came to a halt just short of rushing directly into Thorin's desk. "You must make this stop," he repeated, his tone no less fierce though he did lower his volume a bit. Still somewhat above normal speaking levels, though. "I can't take it any longer!"

This was good, Thorin reminded himself. He wanted the Company to treat him as they would any other friend, outside formal occasions at least. Demanding them to stand on ceremony would have been quite ungracious of him after everything they had been through together. It was good that he was practically getting yelled at by a tiny scribe. "And what exactly is it that you want me to stop?"

Ori's large ears twitched in irritation. "Dwalin, of course!"

"What about Dwalin?" Thorin lifted his eyebrows. He hadn't even been sure Ori and Dwalin were fully aware of each other's existence. No, that was a lie, they must have known each other at least somewhat, especially now that Dori and Balin were apparently involved. "I hardly think you want to be rid of him entirely."

"He's been marching around in his furs for several days now!" Ori's hands were trembling where he gripped the sleeves of his tunic as though to keep from flailing them about. "Which would be fine, of course, except he's so bloody big he gets in the way everywhere he goes!"

"Right." Thorin sighed. Yes, he had been aware of Dwalin's latest sulk, though not of the reasons behind it. It wasn't that unusual for a dwarf to revert to their other form for days on end when they were stressed or under the weather, but Ori was right, Dwalin was rather bigger than your usual animal. "It has been going on for days, though, as you say, and while I'm sure his skulking around inconveniences everyone, you are the first to come to me with a complaint. Did something specific happen?" Because while Ori could be fiery at times, especially when ale had been involved, he was hardly the most forthcoming dwarf in the Company.

"Yes! Yes, something did happen!" Now Ori finally lost the battle against his sleeves, hands flying high to express his frustration. "I was drawing in the common room, not getting in anyone's way, and here he comes with his bloody big furry arse and swishes his tail right over the table! And of course he knocked my ink pot right over. I spent hours on that drawing, and now it's ruined because he can't keep his bloody tail out of the way."

"That is certainly troublesome." Not that he had much care for matters such as drawings, but he knew all too well the anger of having hours of work ruined. "I'll talk with him, for what little good it may do."

"You'd better." Ori crossed his arms over his chest, the very image of hurt annoyance. "Because the next time he does something like that, I'm damn well going to bite him! We'll see how he likes that, then!"

Thorin thought about this. He knew that Ori in his furs was not exactly the largest or most intimidating thing ever. In fact, Dwalin would probably be simply bemused at the thought of something so small trying to do him harm. However, he probably shouldn't give the impression of encouraging his Company to fight, so something had to be done before Ori made good on his threat.

"I'll see what I can do." He sighed. "Though I make no promises on whether I can get through to him. Dwalin can be stubborn when he sets his mind to it."

"Because that's clearly unique to him." At least Ori wasn't yelling anymore, so Thorin was just going to pretend he hadn't heard that.

"Yes, yes. Was there anything else? I don't mean to offend, but I need to have this done by dinner or Balin will get on my case. And I think we can both agree that making Balin mad is even worse than Dwalin being sulky."

Ori actually seemed to consider this for a moment. Thankfully, though, he seemed to come to the conclusion that Thorin was right, as he gave a slow nod. "Right. But if he does that again, I really am going to bite him."

"Well, if he does it again soon, I'm sure he deserves whatever is coming to him." At least it might provide some entertainment, seeing a tiny fox with huge ears hanging off one of Dwalin's massive legs. "Let's hope one of us can get through to him, for the sake of all the ink pots in the mountain."

Ori didn't seem too amused as he marched out, but at least he wasn't yelling anymore. Mahal knew how he could stand to make so much noise with those massive ears of his. Though then, he probably was used to Fíli and Kíli being noisy all the time.

Well. It was rather useless to speculate on such things when he had work to do. Thorin hadn't just been making excuses when he'd said he needed to get his paperwork done by dinnertime.

Mahal knew an upset Balin scared Thorin more than Dwalin ever could.

*

"Why exactly do I have to come along?"

Thorin didn't even have the decency to slow down as he strode along the corridor, his steps fast enough that Bilbo very nearly had to run to keep up with him. "Well, you have often told me I have no skill when it comes to social tasks, haven't you? So clearly I should take along someone better suited to the matter."

"I haven't said anything quite like that!" All right, so he probably had insinuated that Thorin wasn't always the most talented person when it came to being friendly, but not even he could honestly claim that Thorin was entirely without his charms. He wouldn't have been such a good leader if he hadn't drawn people to himself, after all. "And regardless of that, what could I even do? Or you, for that matter? If the problem is that he won't shift back to a dwarf, how are you even going to find out what's bugging him?"

"You can be my moral support." Yes, because Thorin absolutely required Bilbo's company to talk to his best friend. "And besides, I can understand him well enough. His accent gets a bit thick sometimes when he's growling, but he's still part lion."

"Right. Lion." Bilbo paused. "You know, when I first saw your tail, I thought you were some strange kind of a mouse." What else was he supposed to have thought, when Thorin had a long tail with such short fur and a strange tuft in the end?

Thorin snorted. "I could get insulted at that, but then I suppose you wouldn't have ever seen a lion before." He shook his head. "I've heard they are actual animals in far off parts, though I'm not even sure how far you would have to travel to see one. It has been the animal of the House of Durin since the first Durin the Deathless, though."

"How is that even possible?" Though then, dwarves did do a lot of things in strange ways. "How can your animal be something that you haven't even seen?" At least among hobbits, their animals were various creatures native to the Shire, and from what he had seen most dwarves tended to have animals suited for living in the mountains or underground. But of course the royal house would have to be special.

"Story goes that when Mahal made the Seven Fathers, he didn't give them animals, because he didn't know of the plans for the other races. When he saw the difference and chose to give them that gift, the first Durin had a dream of a strange creature he had never seen, and in the dream it was called a lion. It still happens sometimes, dreams guiding what fur a child will wear."

"Really?" Bilbo blinked. "You mean, children can have animals their parents didn't?"

"Aye, though not often, and only if the child is carved and not born. Most often it is just another animal you'd find in a dwarven mountain, but every now and then you get the strange case of an animal nobody has seen before." Thorin shrugged as though this hadn't been the strangest thing ever. And carving children! Truly, dwarves were even odder than Bilbo had thought. "It's what happened with Balin and Dwalin's mother. Her family had been badgers for generations, but when her parents made to carve her they had a dream of giving her a long tail, and instead of a badger she grew up to be the biggest cat the mountain had seen until Dwalin grew past even her. A tiger, is the name they heard in their dream."

"Of course you dwarves just have to find new ways to be different." Bilbo shook his head. "So Dwalin is part lion and part this tiger thing? That's strange. I thought if your parents had different animals you just end up with one of them?"

"And that's what usually happens, yes. However, some animals seem to be close enough to get past this. There have been a few dwarves with the fur of a hound, and if they have children with someone who is a wolf, the children are not quite either. Dwalin and Balin each seem to be a mix of their parents as well, though in rather different proportions."

"I suppose that's fair enough. And that's how you can understand Dwalin even when he's in his fur?"

"Indeed." Thorin nodded. "Though I suppose it's partly because I know him so well. Fíli can understand him somewhat, but not as well."

"I can only imagine. Goodness knows I sometimes can't understand you lot even when you're speaking plain Westron."

"Why, if I didn't know better, Master Hobbit, I might even think you are mocking my people." Thorin's lips twitched, though, so if he did think so, he was amused more than anything. "And I do believe this is where Dwalin has chosen to make his lair. Shall we?"

It wasn't like Bilbo's opinion was going to be considered, really, so there was little for him to do except follow Thorin in. They were in one of the unused parts of the mountain, briefly inspected to make sure it wasn't going to come down on anyone's head, but left empty until more people arrived. There were only a few dozen dwarves in addition to the Company in the mountain, still, as most of Dáin's people had returned to Iron Hills in the months following the battle, only a few of them remaining to help clean out space and make it safe for all the dwarves who were set to come.

Dwalin was indeed there, in his furs, as the dwarves put it. Instead of a dwarf Bilbo saw a huge cat, a sandy yellow creature with a white belly and dark stripes and spots marking its head and sides. It was easily as long as two dwarves combined were tall, and eyed them with a decisively disdainful air. The thought entered Bilbo's mind that this creature could have easily bitten him in half, had it found the mind to.

"I've been receiving complaints about you." Thorin frowned, stomping over to Dwalin. "You're causing a disturbance with your size. Usually it wouldn't be a problem, but we still have limited space here in the mountain, so you can't be stalking around like this for days on end."

Dwalin growled something that Bilbo could not make any sense of. Thorin, however, seemed to understand well enough.

"Yes, you're out of the way right now. Earlier, you ruined Ori's drawing. He threatened to bite you if you do it again, by the way."

Dwalin gave what had to be the big cat version of a snort and turned his head away. Thorin did not let up.

"I don't know what's got you in such a strop, but you'd better sort it out soon. Not that I think he'll be very dangerous to you, but if you continue to act like a grumpy cub and Dori and Nori find out you've upset their baby brother, I will not be responsible for whatever they decide to do to you."

Dwalin grumbled something low in his chest. Thorin frowned at first and seemed about to speak, but then his expression cleared to an almost unnatural calmness.

"Well, if that's going to be your approach, you only have yourself to blame." Thorin turned back to Bilbo, his tail swishing behind him. "Come on, Bilbo. We have better things to do with our time."

"That's it?" Even though Bilbo had waited for Thorin further away from Dwalin, he soon had to pick up his pace again to catch up with Thorin as they made it out to the corridor. "You're not even going to try?"

"I tried to do this nicely. Now it's time for me to turn to dirty methods." Thorin's lips turned into what Bilbo could only call a smirk. "Say, where did you last see Nori?"

*

"So this is where you are. Thorin's directions were atrocious, even if he doesn't get lost in the mountain."

Dwalin didn't respond as Nori spoke, barely even gave any indication that he'd noticed Nori at all. Of course, this was much better than getting chased the moment he was spotted, so he wasn't about to complain. Instead, he walked closer, taking out his pipe.

"You know, this really is a first. I've had Thorin tell me to do things before, and I've had Ori ask me for help, but this has to be the first time they have both asked me for the same thing." He stuffed his pipe, relishing the way he didn't have to be careful about not wasting his pipeweed. This was probably the first time in his life when that was true, and even after a couple of months it still hadn't lost its shine. Before, they'd been too poor, or he'd been on the run or underground and hadn't known when he'd have the chance to buy more, and then there had been the journey and everything terrible that came with it. But now they were rich with all the gold they could possibly spend, and while the supply carts from Iron Hills weren't that numerous they were more than enough for the numbers that Erebor housed at the moment. For the first time Nori could remember he had a pouch full of pipeweed and knew he could get more whenever he wanted, and he was damn well going to enjoy it.

There was still no response, intelligible or otherwise. However, he could have sworn he saw one of Dwalin's ears twitch, which was as good as he was going to get.

"Everyone's taking notice, you know. It's not like you can wander around in your furs for so long and not have people gossip. Some are saying you're sick, or even injured; all kind of theories are going around. It seems everyone in the Company has their own theory, too. Which obviously just shows they aren't very observant." He sat down next to Dwalin's huge body, almost close enough to feel the heat of the large creature.

This at least earned him a sideways glance and a low grumble. That was a downright triumph.

"See, I've been thinking. And I tracked down just when you decided that you'd like to walk on four legs for a bit." Nori tapped the pipe stem against his lips. "From what I can tell, you started this idiocy right after Dori and Balin announced their intent to court." And hadn't that been a fun family dinner indeed.

Dwalin turned his head away. And, really, that was as good as an answer.

"Now, there's many reasons why that would make you react so." Nori fumbled for a light, now, always needing to keep his hands busy. "For one thing, it might be that you don't think Dori's a suitable match for Balin, but don't want to say it aloud. I don't think that's the case, because any dwarf would be lucky to have Dori and you damn well know it, you'd have to be utterly stupid not to know. I also really don't think you doubt they will be happy, since it's clear to anyone who's seen them together that they're as smitten as two old coots can be. However, I think I know what the problem is." Nori smirked. "You're going to miss Balin."

Dwalin gave him a glare and a huff. Hey, if he wasn't going to talk properly, Nori had every right to ignore him.

"Don't look at me like that, it only makes sense. You're half lion, right? And if there's one thing I know about them, it's that they stick together. Everyone knows how Thorin is with his family, he more or less lived with his sister even when her husband was alive, so clearly it wasn't just because he was helping her with the boys. Fíli's the same, from what I've seen, sticks to Kíli like a bad song to mind. And you've been living with Balin as long as I've known anything about you, and since the beginning of the journey you've hardly been apart at all. But now he's courting, so he might move out, and you don't like that idea but you also don't want to protest because you think your brother deserves some happiness at last." Mahal knew it was high time for Dori to get the same.

Dwalin's huge body shifted, but there was no particular sound this time. Clearly he'd given up trying to convey his thoughts to Nori, which was just as well. It wasn't like Nori was paying much attention anyway.

"It doesn't have to be like that, you know." Not that he'd thought about it much before, but now that the thought occurred to him, it seemed clear as day. "We haven't yet decided where we'll be staying in the end, when the mountain's back to usual. It wouldn't be much trouble to find somewhere that'll fit you as well and not just Balin. I mean, not that I'll probably be staying very long, in any case, and Ori's amiable enough if you don't ruin any more of his work. If you do, though, I'm not sure you'd sleep peacefully under the same roof. The little one can be vicious." And didn't it just make Nori's heart swell with brotherly pride whenever Ori showed his claws, metaphorically or literally.

Dwalin grumbled at that. And, really? Here was Nori, trying to find civil solutions to things, and in thanks for that he got —

There was a swooshing sound as air rushed to fill in the space that had moments before been filled with fur and muscle. Dwalin was perhaps large for a dwarf, but he had nothing on his other form. Nori resisted the urge to ogle the sight, keeping his eyes at a perfectly respectable level as he glanced to the side to make sure Dwalin was, indeed, sitting next to him, all naked tattooed skin over tight muscle. "Finally decided to talk, huh?" Nori took a puff of his pipe. "Is the thought of living with me that disturbing?"

"You're wrong." Dwalin's voice had a rough quality to it, as was usual when someone had been spending too long in their furs. "That's not what bothers me."

"So enlighten me." Nori rolled his eyes. "What is the problem, then? And if you say there's something wrong with Dori, well, you don't have much to stop my knives with right now, so think carefully."

Dwalin was quiet long enough Nori almost feared he would shift right back rather than actually engage in a discussion. Finally, though, he spoke. "I'm mad at myself."

"At yourself?" Nori tilted his head. "For what?" He couldn't recall Dwalin doing anything out of ordinary before he'd taken to running around on all fours.

"Because my brother had the courage to speak to the one he's sweet on, and I can't do the same."

"Hold on a minute here." Nori pointed his pipe at Dwalin. "You like someone? You? I didn't think it was even possible for you to have any positive emotions about anyone but Thorin and his lot."

"Hey!" Dwalin frowned. "I'm a dwarf, still. I'm as capable of love as any other."

"But not of confessing it, it seems. You do know that making sure nobody understands what you're saying is not actually a solution to not being able to say it?" Not that Nori didn't get the appeal. Oh, he definitely did, he was just perfectly capable of keeping his mouth shut without being in his furs. "So who is it, then? Bifur? He seems like your type, strong and fierce when needed and a little bit strange in the head."

"No, it's not." Yes, because that was very helpful.

"Fíli, then? You seem to coddle him sometimes, as much as you're capable of coddling anyone, and he's a fine young thing, even if that nose is a bit unfortunate." It took some effort to keep his voice light, but damn if he was going to complicate things at this point.

"Not Fíli, either." Now, Dwalin would not quite look at him. "I… may have my eyes on a certain fox."

"It can't be Dori, right? Please let it not be Dori, that's a mess I want no part in. Except — Ori?" That made a frightening amount of sense, really. Dwalin was surprisingly gentle with the lad at times, for someone so rough. Nori had always thought it was just because Ori had studied under Balin for a time, but maybe there was more to it? "If that's the case, then spilling his ink is not exactly your best course of action." And why did his chest ache so very badly at the thought?

"Not Ori, either! Mahal, he's little more than a cub, still." Dwalin ran a hand over his bald scalp. Nori found himself utterly fascinated by the way the tattoos slid out from under his fingers one by one. "It's you, all right? I like you."

"Me?" That… couldn't be right. That just made no sense whatsoever! "You actually like me?"

"Aye! Have for a while, ever since I figured there's more to you than a petty thief, but I couldn't very well do anything about it on the journey. Would've been right rude of me, to try anything when neither of us knew if we'd live through it all. Except I knew if I said anything now that we're safe again, you'd think I'm joking, or mock me for it, because there's no way you'd ever want to get close to me except with a knife in hand."

Nori paused. There were many things he could have said, really, as well as the always present possibility that he might just stand up and run off before Dwalin had the chance to react, but somehow, all that his mouth was capable of producing was one stupid thing. "That's unfair."

Dwalin's brow furrowed. "What is?"

"You confessing your feelings while you're sitting there all naked and gorgeous, of course." Hey, if he couldn't stay calm, bravado might work just as well. "Gets mighty distracting, it does."

Dwalin was quiet for a moment, then a smirk slowly spread onto his face. "Perhaps we should even the ground, then?"

And, well. Nori had never been one to avoid risky situations. Certainly not when something tempting was being dangled right in front of his eyes.

And if the most tempting bit wasn't precisely at eye level right now, well, he was sure he could fix the situation.

*

Nori had not returned.

Usually, Ori would not have thought much about this. Nori was Nori, and even when he officially lived with them, which was by no means always, he'd often disappear for days on end when he felt like it. Even here in the mountain, where there weren't really that many places to go, he would often find some corner to hide into when he didn't feel like being social. Really, it shouldn't have been cause for concern at all.

Except this time, he knew precisely where Nori had gone, which made his not returning somewhat more worrisome.

The corridor was quiet and empty, but then it wasn't like he had far to go. This part of the mountain wasn't really being worked on right now, so they'd only inspected and marked out a few places there, the further tunnels still uncertain in their stability. Even Nori wouldn't have ventured there unless he had no other choice. The last room before the unmarked tunnels, Ori reminded himself, that was where Thorin had said Dwalin would be found. It was also where Nori had said he'd be going, to speak with Dwalin about his mood.

He paused at the door and listened, but didn't hear anything of note, even with his rather sensitive ears. That could be either a good sign or a bad one. After a moment's hesitation, Ori pushed the door open.

Now, he heard it clearly enough, the peaceful breathing of two creatures. Pushing the door open properly, he peeked in. Nori's things were there, his clothes and knives and all piled carelessly on the floor, his pipe lying next to it all on the floor. Not far from Nori's belongings Ori saw the massive figure of Dwalin in his furs, stretched out on the floor, apparently asleep. There was a much smaller red figure curled up against the golden fur. As Ori watched, almost afraid to breathe, the fox lifted his head from the bushy tail, blinked sleepily at Ori, and went back to sleep.

Ori let the door fall shut slowly, not wanting to make too much noise. Whatever had happened there, he really didn't want to ruin the moment by startling them. Even so, he couldn't resist humming a bit to himself as he walked away.

Perhaps he should start thinking about living on his own. Clearly both of his brothers were going to be very busy with courting and such things.

He was not a pup anymore, no, so really he should have been past such behaviour, but just for a moment he couldn't help but wag his tail in excitement.


End file.
